spoon knives and more

I’m still carving spoons when I have time. I have a batch of about another dozen coming up soon for those still interested…

but a lot of folks have asked about tools and materials for learning to carve their own spoons. So here goes. First off, start with Drew Langsner’s site http://countryworkshops.org/ . That’s where I learned most all I know about carving spoons. Drew sells the excellent DVD by Jogge Sundqvist “Carving Swedish Woodenware” http://countryworkshops.org/books.html as well as many tools for this work –

hook knives

I got these two hook knives from Drew – the one in the foreground is by Hans Karlsson, that in the background is by Svante Djarv. I do 90% of my hollowing with these, some large spoons I start hollowing with a curved bent gouge and mallet.

I have many straight knives, this one is my everyday knife, with a handle I made long ago, probably wouldn’t make it so bulky these days…but by now I am used to it. It’s a Frost blade, fitted to a maple handle. The handle is about 3 1/2″ long, by 5/8″ wide. But that’s after 20 years of use.

carving knifemore straight knives

Three more straight knives. The large one at left is by Svante Djarv. I just got it this spring from Drew. It’s big. 4″ long, by 3/4″ wide. Great knife. They sell smaller ones also…

The small middle knife here is by Del Stubbs http://www.pinewoodforge.com/ It’s a fabulous knife. I use if for finishing cuts, once the green wood has been roughed into shape. As it dries the wood cuts more cleanly. Del’s site has lots of spoon-carving information & inspiration. The top knife here is another old Frost blade, now worn down to a nice small size for detail carving. It’s my first carving knife, so it stays in the game.

detail knives

For the chip carving that I put on the spoon handles, I use the one in the right above made by Ron Hock http://www.hocktools.com/Knives.htm it’s called the “Chip Carver #CKC100 1” on his site. The other I have just been getting used to is another tool from Svante Djarv that I got from Country Workshops.

While you’re at Country Workshops’ site, sign up for their free newsletter. This recent issue has an article about Drew & Louise’s trip to Sweden, where among other things, they visited Wille Sundqvist – who started all this spoon carving at Drew’s back in 1978. http://www.countryworkshops.org/newsletter35/

This weekend, if you’re home reading this, that means that you & I are both missing a spoon extravaganza in England – Robin Wood is part of this spoon scene that descended from Wille -here is his site, showing his turned bowls, but spoon carving is a big part of his work too. http://robin-wood-gallery.blogspot.com/p/carving-courses.html

This weekend he & some friends are having a gathering of spoon carvers = read about it here. http://spoonfest.co.uk/ I wish I could have made it…

I think that about covers it. I’m sure there’s lots more; but this ought to get you started.